It is time for our last summer Hero Factory set review. Today BZPower Forum Assistant Sisen sits down with 44023 ROCKA Crawler, the smallest set in the summer lineup. Will it crawl its way into your heart, and will it fare better than the previous smallest set EVO Walker? You'll have to read and watch on to find out!

PresentationFrom the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.

The presentation of the set itself is fairly small. You have some fancy artwork on the front with little creepy crawlies and a piloted Rocka mech. Your typical set jargon such as the name, age, and set number (44023) are shown on the front of the packaging. Oh and there are some set designer signatures on there too? How sweet is that?! The back of the bag shows how the new seat piece functions for the set along with some other technical rambling.

BuildingHalf the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

Building Rocka Crawler does not require much time or effort, but what it lacks in complexity it makes up in overall design and playability.

Set DesignNow that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.

Set wise Rock Crawler has a solid construction and decent color scheme. There is not a lot to the set, and while it has limited maneuverability for some motions, it has charm. Sometimes the simplicity of a build is its greatest asset, and that is a great thing for this particular set. There are some fairly interesting pieces contained within the set though! My big gripe is inserting the figure and removing it. Every time I did it I always snapped something off and had to properly reattach it.

There are the new monster egg sack petal pieces. They have a really nice texture and look to them, and also offer a nice diverse style to the LEGO experience. The new cockpit piece is an interesting item; with a single ball joint connector on the back it should pose some interesting uses.

My favorite new item has to be the new blaster though. The gun is comprised of two pieces, the actual gun itself and then a firing mechanism that snaps into place. (Mind you taking that mechanism out of the gun can be quite a pain.) It has mind-blowing fire power and backs a punch for such a small package. The mini-visorak like creature is also pretty chill.

There's also this printed Hero Factory armor piece utilized on the head/blaster region of the mech. I would sort of like to see it used in Hero construction in conjunction with the other related pieces, or larger versions of the respective Heroes.

PlayabilityThe other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?

Let's talk about the p-word. No not that word, that's potty humor. Playability!

Any set is what you make of it and Rocka Crawler has loads of playability. With a little itty bitty beastie from below attacking Rocka, cuteness is bound to ensue. Just look at these two. They are as thick as thieves!

Although... I would advise against sticking your hand in foreign objects monsters hatch from, but I guess it is okay if you are in a mech with saw arms. Stepping in the egg seems like a bad idea too though. Unfortunately if you take the mech out of the equation, all you are left with is a herofig, a beastie, and a gun (albeit a cool one).

This technically isn't a playability piece, but it is something you get to interact with. The beast below sets previous released for Hero Factory contained some pretty rad comic art. The same style artwork can be found in the new instruction books! It is a really cool touch and satiates the inner nerd.

Final ThoughtsOnce it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

ProsWhat's to like?

New gun

Effectiveness of gun

Potential of gun

Egg sack

Egg sack

It's a mech, who doesn't like mechs?

ConsWhat's not to like?

Not much going on mech wise

Some limited maneuverability

Pain to remove and snap in figure

All in all this is a nifty little set. I would definitely pick it up if you want some of the new egg sac pieces or if you just like mechs in general. The LEGO group graciously provided the set and the designers signed it (thanks again), even if that wasn't the case I would still pick it up for myself. What could possibly go wrong from buying a mech and a little beastie?

Rocka sporting the latest trends in hair fashion.

Huge thanks to LEGO for sending us these signed sets, and a big thanks to Sisen for reviewing it for us. Of course you can share your own thoughts and ask questions in the Talkback. This concludes our summer Hero Factory set reviews, but don't worry, we've got plenty more reviews ahead from other themes, so keep checking back right here on BZPower!